No Headlights
by vasoline
Summary: Robin isn't looking for much: a stable boyfriend and a way out of Tulsa. Steve is working trying to work things out in his rocky relationship with Evie, all while maintaining an odd friendship with Robin, if that's what he can even call it.
1. Chapter 1

I posted this before but I changed it a bit because I wasn't fully in love with it, so this may seem familiar to some of you! Tell me what you think! **Song: Self** **Esteem, The Offspring.**

* * *

><p><em>Well I guess I should stick up for myself, but I really think it's better this way;<em>  
><em>The more you suffer, the more it shows you really care<em>

* * *

><p><span><strong>CHAPTER ONE<strong>

It was a terrible mess and he had no idea how he was going to fork up enough cash to fix all the damages. His headlights were smashed, the sides were dented, and on the driver's side there was a jagged line running through both doors; no doubt coming from someone's key.

Normally, under any other circumstances, Steve would go find out who did this and beat the shit out of them. That was under normal circumstances; Steve knew who did this and there was no way in hell that he was even laying a hand on them.

Steve had been sitting in the Dingo, chatting with Tim Shepard as he waited for Soda to get there. It was a regular afternoon – he had the day off and he was at the diner for a coke and probably a burger.

Mark Jennings burst into the Dingo, laughing to kill himself. He walked over to Tim and Steve. "Randle, your girl is beatin' your ride to a pulp."

Steve had been confused, but sure enough, when he glanced out of the diners windows he caught Evie in the middle of smashing in his headlights with a baseball bat. He had parked a couple rows back but he could still see, clear as day, the awful damages to his car.

He jumped out of his seat and ran to her. She saw him, but remained unfazed. She hit the thin metal on his car over and over, blow after blow until he reached her. He grabbed the weapon and threw it, far enough away that she couldn't grab it. Evie huffed and let her eyes roll. He was raging mad; his hands were shaking. But he wouldn't yell at her or touch her. All he did was glare.

She didn't say anything either. She gave him a blank look and walked over to the bat and hopped into a car, not parked a foot away from Steve's. The driver was Sylvia. Sylvia smirked as she peered at him over her dark sunglasses. She slid them back on and drove away.

Now, Steve stood over his destroyed vehicle wondering how he could possibility fix this (he could fix it himself, but had no money for parts) and why the in the name of god Evie had the urge to do this. He knew she was mad at him, but he figured she'd be over that by now and back in his arms. After all, since he _didn't even do_ what she had accused him of. Evie's friend Lorie had told her Steve had come on to her at a party two weeks before. That never happened and never would – Lorie was easy on the eyes but she was dumb and she always slumming around. He liked a girl that could put out, but for him, not the whole damn city. What really happened was Lorie had come onto him, and he had told her where to go. He guessed Lorie Reynolds didn't take rejection well because the next thing he knew Evie was on his doorstep dumping him because of some story Lorie told her. It was bullshit.

"Man, that's bad." Soda had shown up the minute Evie left. "How're ya gonna get the parts?"

From Soda's tone, Steve knew what he was implying. "I ain't gonna steal 'em, Soda. I don't want the police arrestin' me again anytime soon."

"Yeah, you just got out." Steve nodded. He wasn't angry anymore, but that was probably because Evie and her goddamn baseball bat were gone. He was frustrated now, though.

"I'm gonna head home. I think I need a nap or somethin', anything to not think of wringing the girl's pretty little neck." Soda laughed, they both knew Steve would never touch a hair on that girls head. Even after this huge unnecessary burden she put on him, he'd probably still take her back if she wanted. Not right away – he would have to play it tough – he would say he didn't know, ignore her for a couple days, and _then_ run back to her.

"You still goin' to the Drive-In with me? If not, I can just tell our dates ya got mono or somethin'."

Steve chuckled and shook his head. "No, I'll go. But I guess you're gonna have to pick me up."

"No problem," Sodapop smiled. "See ya."

"See ya."

Steve started up his car. If you never knew what the exterior looked like, this car would have been perfect. The engine purred pleasantly, his ride had never made a sickly sound and everything worked smoothly. But he did know what the exterior looked like and he made him want to throw up.

He pulled into his driveway and it was odd to see his old man's already there on a Friday afternoon.

"Steve, is that you?" He heard his father's rough voice. His old man was from New York and he had a real rough accent. It matched him, Steve had always thought. His father was rough, angry, and uncaring. That what Steve pictured New York to be like.

"Yeah, dad. It's me."

His father's clothes were wrinkled, his hair was unkempt and greasy, and his eyes were glazed. He was about ten feet away from Steve, so he could not smell booze yet, but Steve knew if he got any closer he would. It was four the afternoon and his dad was drunk already.

"Shouldn't you be at work?" Steve questioned. His old man was unreliable but he hardly – if ever – skipped work. He couldn't buy beer or whiskey without a paycheck.

"I got fired today. I can't come to work after half a bottle of whiskey, apparently."

_No shit_, Steve wanted to say, but he said nothing. His hands shook and he looked away from his father and stared at the rug, waiting for him to talk again. He never greeted him at the door, so it was obvious he had something to say or wanted something from him, or even _better_ – wanted to give him a nice beating. He had lost his job, so all three of them were possibilities.

"You got any money?" He was closer now, and just like Steve had predicted, he could smell alcohol. "I don't have any whiskey left and I don't have a cent to buy any."

His old man laughed as if what he said was funny. Steve didn't find it a bit funny; it pissed him off. His car was a wreck, he needed all the money he had, he didn't need to be handing it to his already drunk father so he could get even drunker. Despite needing all his money to himself, he handed his dad some cash anyways. He would just work a lot of overtime at the DX.

"Appreciate it." He father said before leaving. He had said it but he didn't mean it, he didn't appreciate anything. When he came back he might kick Steve out of the house for the millionth time, nobody knew. His old man was an asshole; an unpredictable asshole.

Steve went down the hall to his room and flung himself on the bed, just like he told Soda he would.

After a two hours nap, Steve got up showered and got ready for the date. This date was originally planned to make Evie mad and jealous and run back to him. Now, it was just to make her mad since she seemed all too against getting back with him, or at least that's the hint he took from her day's activities. With Evie, he could be completely wrong, he never knew how she was going to act. She was a sweet girl, but she wanted to make it known that she was independent. She was very good at that, and bitching.

Sodapop seemed to be hitting it off with his date, Sandy Brown. She was blonde, blue-eyed and slim. She reminded Steve of every girl Soda went out with and he was pretty sure that Soda was doing that on purpose, subconsciously or not. All his dates were like that, and Steve thought about knocking some sense into him to stop playing around and just settle down. But that was Steve, he always stuck to one person. Soda was his only real friend and Evie was his only girl, and he was satisfied with that, what else did he need?

Steve's own date was a bore. She had black hair and black eyes, her name was Mildred Yates and even that was boring. "Friends call me Millie" she had told him as soon as the date started. He refused to call her that, it sounded dumb as hell and he told her so. He inferred that upset her because she hardly said a word since, just stared at the movie. He might have thought she was just interested in the movie but he didn't even see that being possible. It was one of those silent ones and if she really was just enjoying the movie, this would be their last date. He'd be damned before he went out with someone who liked silent films. It was hard enough to sit down to a regular movie, but when there was no sound, Steve saw no point. He'd been lucky with Evie, she hardly liked movies either. Most broads dragged their man out to one every week.

Mildred leaned her head on Steve's shoulder, and stared at the movie. So his assumption was incorrect – she wasn't upset with him, she did like these stupid movies. _How much more boring could one chick get?_

"I gotta go to the bathroom." He announced and shook Mildred off his shoulder. He shuffled out of the booth and made a beeline for the concession stand. He would probably stay there for the rest of the date, at least there was some action in there.

As usual, the concession stand was packed. People were yelling, pushing, shoving, and starting fights over popcorn and cola. If Mildred could read his thoughts, she must have been mighty offended he chose this over her.

Steve shoved and elbowed his way through the crowd, not paying attention to his surroundings. He should have been because seconds later there was a dampness on his shirt and popcorn in his hair.

"I'm so sorry," said a petite girl. She had a crushed drink cup in her hand and a bag of popcorn, missing over half the bag. "I wasn't looking! I didn't mean to, really –"

"It's okay." He said.

"No, I really am sor- oh, well then." She stopped herself short and smiled. "Should I pay for the dry cleaning?"

"No. I'm fine."

The girl had light, caramel brown hair, long bangs and big green eyes to match his own. She was pretty, a lot prettier than his date but she had split coke all over him, which had just added to his bad day, so he didn't see him even trying to flirt with her. She also wasn't the usual type he went for, she was nicer - even from the start, and she was more modest. There was the lack of blue eyeshadow and a mini skirt that all the girls he seemed to take a liking to had.

"I'm Robin Merrill." She told him, he didn't understand why she would introduce herself, maybe that was the polite thing to do, but he had never been one for manners.

Her name was familiar, he had probably seen her around before but she also shared the last name with Buck Merrill - he wondered if their was a relation but didn't ask.

"Steve Randle."

A blonde girl came up and linked her arm with Robin, it was obvious the blonde was distressed but Steve didn't acknowledge it, he didn't know her, so he didn't have to care. The blonde was the type of girl Steve went after. She was clad in tight jeans and a tight blouse to match but he found Robin much prettier. Robin was tiny and soft and proper, but she wasn't his kind.

"Sorry, I took so long." the blonde apologized. "Where are the other girls?"

"Goodbye, Steve." said Robin. He nodded and she left.

She had been awfully nice and he knew it was because he didn't look greasy right now. Girls like that wanted nothing more to get out of this side even if it took laying with a social guy to do it. He hadn't regreased his hair after his shower, he hadn't had time. He was also on a date and he was more done up than usual because of that he had ditched the leather jacket and blue jeans for nicer pants and a clean shirt. Nothing about him right now was screaming "greaser". He wished he did have his leather jacket right now, though. To cover up the wet, brown, coke stain on his shirt. He had no other choice, he had to go back to Sodapop and Mildred.

Soda and Sandy were cuddled up in the front seat, but Soda was getting restless as usual. His feet were tapping and his hands were flicking the wheel. He never could sit still long. Mildred was slumped in the back seat with a frown on her face; she might not have been upset before but she sure was now. Her face pinched up when she saw him and she slumped further into the seat.

Soda looked up at him and grinned. "How'd you manage that?" He pointed to the cola splatter on his shirt.

"Some dumb broad wasn't lookin' where she was goin'." He said gruffly; forgetting the part where he wasn't looking either.

Soda laughed. "You need a ride home? I doubt you wanna stay in that."

Steve shook his head. Soda and Sandy sure looked comfortable and he wouldn't want to interrupt that.

"Nah, I'll walk." He smirked at Mildred. "You wanna come with me?"

It was a joke, he knew there was no way she would ever come with him but asking her sure got her riled up. She looked at him with eyes that read 'are you an idiot?' and her face was scrunched up into anger. She hardly had anything to be angry about, she was a funny broad.

"No," Her voice was low. "I don't want to _come with you_."

Steve chuckled. "Suit yourself."

Steve left them. He had to pass the concession stand again and when he was walking past the unused building, above the washrooms he saw Two-Bit come down the staircase which was the exact place the blonde had come from not even five minutes earlier. Two-Bit was fixing his hair and straightening his clothes. He had to laugh – no wonder she looked so flustered. He wonder if that Robin chick had known where her friend had really been, he doubted it.

His house was only about fifteen minutes from the Nightly Double walking, only like a two minute drive. He wished he could drive home, but with no headlights it would just get pulled over. Evie could be a real bitch sometimes.

Thinking of Evie, she hadn't been at the Drive-In that night so his plan to make her mad didn't even work, but it would probably get around to her by word of mouth. That wasn't as satisfying.

"Hey, Steve," it was the same chick from the Drive-In. "Do you want a ride?"

He had hardly made his way out of the Nightly Doubles gates when she called out to him. it was a long walk from where he stood. The girl was offering, she had split Coke on his shirt - it was the least she could do to drive him home. He took her up on the offer.

He expected the passenger seat to be taken but the blond who left with Robin was sprawled out in the back; he hopped into the front seat. The blonde seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't place it. Maybe he had seen her sneaking around with Keith before, prior to tonight.

"Thats Kathy, by the way," Robin told him. "Kathy Briggs."

"I can introduce myself, you know." Kathy said and Steve could see her grinning through the mirror.

Her name clicked: baby sister of Don Briggs. Tough guy, everyone knew him on this side. Steve had only met him when he was with Tim Shepard, he was part of his outfit.

"Who are you?" Kathy asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

Steve repeated his name, it felt like he was saying it a lot tonight.

Robin ended up dropping off Kathy first, up on the Ribbon. She had said she needed to get there fast so Robin agreed that she would go there first, though it was in the opposite direction of his place. He guessed she didn't care and he wasn't going to complain since she had offered him a ride. He wondered if maybe Kathy was meeting up with Two-Bit once again but he didn't ask. It wasn't his business.

Kathy got out and mumbled a thank you.

"Whats your address again?" Robin asked as she pulled off the Ribbon. He told her.

It turned out Robin was more than just a broad with a pretty car, she could keep up with him when he talked about what engine this had and all his 'grease monkey' facts, she knew about cars. She also enjoyed herself some Elvis and let him play some on her Eight Track. When they were in front of his house, she didn't even screw up her face, it was in worst shape than most, even on this neighbourhood. His old man didn't enough to clean her up. Robin didn't even seem to acknowledge it.

"What happened to your car?" Was all she said.

Steve was almost too embarrassed to answer. "My girlfriend - we got into a fight and she..."

Robins eyes widened. "Glory, shes got some arm."

Steve laughed and was glad she didn't comment on the craziness of the situation. He kind of liked this girl.

Surprising to him, she handed him a small piece of parchment with her number on it. "Call me sometime," she said before she reversed out of his drive-way.

Mildred had been a boring date but Robin wasn't boring, she was quiet but surprising. A part of him knew he should have thrown the number to the ground, he didn't, he stuffed it into the pocket of his jeans. Maybe he'd call it. It didn't seem Evie was going to call him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two. Thanks texaskid for the review!

* * *

><p><em>it won't mend your heart if it's only a couple of lines<em>

* * *

><p>"James, if ya don't stop messin' up your room I ain't gonna let Buck let you board here anymore. He'll listen to me, too."<p>

James Holt scowled. "I pay my rent, I can do what you want."

She crossed her arms over her chest, giving him her sternest look. "Actually, ya can't. It's in your lease. You better fix those damages or you're out on your ass, ya hear?"

James mumbled something underneath his breath that she couldn't quite catch but she knew it was snotty. She didn't have the time for this guys attitude.

"What was that, James?"

That didn't come from her, that was Dallas's voice. James cursed and kept walking, Dallas chuckled to himself and made his way to the bar where she was.

"Don't know why you're actin' like you're above him. Your rooms a wreck and you get free room and board, you'd think you'd have a little more respect."

Dallas smirked down at her. "I'll fix it all, Robin. Promise."

"You better, Dal. Or I won't let Buck let you mooch off him anymore."

"I don't mooch off your brother, me and him have ourselves an agreement."

Robin rolled her eyes. "You're lucky I've miraculously taken a liking to you or I'd throw your ass on the street right along with James."

Dallas chuckled and walked off, where - she didn't know but she knew wherever he was he was probably already causing trouble. He was arrogant and a bit of an asshole, but he had a charm. He was lucky for the that charm or she wouldn't let him step a foot through the door. She trusted Dallas about as far as she could throw him but that was still a lot more than the other folk Buck let hang around here.

"Stop threatin' my boys, Robin," Buck laughed behind her. "They don't ride good when they're angry."

Robin let her eyes roll at her older brothers comment. Buck and Robin shared the same father but a different mother. Robin's mother walked off long ago and their father died of lung cancer a couple years back, since then she had been living a Bucks roadhouse with him. Bucks mother stuck around way long than hers did, she was still in the picture today. She had been their fathers closest friend as long as they both could remember and she had gotten knocked up with Buck in high school. They remained friends until the day he died and she was the closest thing Robin had to a maternity figure in her life.

"Maybe you start lettin' people with more respect room here. Half these guys got criminal records that would spread out all the way to Texas."

"Quit whinin'."

She stopped chatting and got back to the cleaning she was doing. Buck had thrown a party last night and the place was a mess. Buck never noticed the dirt so it was always left up to her. She didn't mind as much as she thought she would, he let her live here and she helped him out best she could. She even dealt with the rowdy boys when Buck wasn't having it.

"Ain't no use cleanin' yet," Buck said. "Gonna be another wild one tonight."

Robin groaned and did a quick once over of the place. She wasn't going to get to into it if she was going to have the same mess again tomorrow. She wanted to tell Buck it was a school night but she doubted he cared. He didn't think much of education.

"I'm goin' out." Robin shouted to her brother, who she doubted was listening, and grabbed the keys to his Thunderbird.

She found herself at The Dingo, searching out Kathy or one of the other girls. She couldn't find any of them but she decided to order something and wait. They would show up eventually.

"You know givin' a guy a fake number ain't too nice."

In front of her booth was the guy from the Drive-In two nights prior, Steve.

She grinned. "It's not fake."

He squinted, "I called it and it was Bucks place."

She raised a brow and stayed quiet, letting the realization sink in on its own. His cheeks were tinted pink, but she didn't think he knew he was blushing. She didn't point it out.

"Robin Merrill. Shit, I forgot."

"I'm not the type to give false hope."

"Didn't think you were, that's why I was so confused."

Robin laughed and gestured to the empty seat in front of her. "Would you like to sit?"

"Might as well, I'm waitin' for Soda. You know, Curtis."

Steve sure as hell didn't need to add Soda's last name, he was one of the cutest guys in Tulsa, she was sure. Girls lined up at the DX Station for him. Even if he didn't have a pretty face, his first name was hard to forget. She didn't know of any other Soda's. Steve was cute too, in a whole different way. He was dark and brooding, the mysterious type. Something told her not all the girls lined up for Soda, Steve must have been attracting them, too.

"What are you doin' here? And all by your lonesome." Steve asked. Robin pointed to the mound of books at the end of the table.

"Studying _and_ waiting for Kathy."

Steve nodded, "That Kathy chick, she have something going on with Two-Bit?"

Robin's face pinched up in confusion. She hadn't heard the name before, or rather nickname.

Steve caught himself. "Keith. Does she have a thing with Keith Mathews?"

"He got sideburns, red hair and a little too much tongue?"

"That's the guy," Steve chuckled.

Robin nodded and explained to Steve that Kathy did have a thing with Keith, she just wasn't sure what it was. Kathy went out with whoever she wanted and apparently so did he, they just liked each other best. It was nice, in a way. Robin didn't hang out with them together too often. All they did was mack on each other.

Sodapop entered the diner and Steve was up and ready to go.

"I guess I'll see ya around," he said. "I'll try that number again and I won't hang up this time."

"Sounds good," she smiled and watched him disappear to some other part of The Dingo.

Kathy showed up not too long after that. Her hair was ruffled and her clothes were astray. It was no trouble telling she was late because of Keith. She really just have liked him best because she never let any other boy rough her up like that when she had somewhere to be.

Kathy chatted about Keith and the other boys she was seeing but soon the topic switched onto Robin and her love life, or lack of.

"Don misses you, you know. Talks about you constantly."

She looked away from her friend, slightly embarrassed. "Kathy I know he's your brother, but I think he's a bit too greasy for me. I tried it, it was fun, but me and him aren't going to work out. He kept putting Tim before me."

Kathy pursed her lips, obviously unhappy with what she said. "I get it, I do. But it really does like you, Robin. Just think about it."

Robin agreed, just to drop the subject but she knew Kathy wouldn't let up that easy. She would actually have to prove she was thinking about it - which meant talking to Don, something she hadn't done in almost two months. They had broken up in a fight and things didn't seem like they were ever going to be civil. She had just started being able to go over to Kathy's without things being awkward, thinking about talking to Don made her uncomfortable.

Kathy and her drove around after eating, just chatting. Robin was relieved she didn't bring up Don again.

"Bucks throwing another wild party tonight, I'm not going to get a wink of sleep." she groaned, already imagining the loud noises and obnoxious people.

Kathy chuckled. "Just stay at my place, hon. Quiet as can be. Moms gone out, dads dead to the world."

Robin didn't miss the harshness in Kathy's tone. Kathy's parents didn't get along, her mother was always cheating and her father was oblivious to everything that went on with all of them. He was at work or he was passed out. It was still a good offer, school on no sleep never equalled a good day. The only flaw was Don and something told her Kathy was very aware of that.

"You know what, yeah," she said. "I'll just go grab some things."

The roadhouse was almost rocking from the loud music. Robin ran up the staircase to get her things, Kathy stayed in the car.

"Where do you think you're off to?" Buck stood in the doorway of her room.

"Kathy's. It's loud here and I need to study."

"Alright, kid. Stay out of trouble."

She promised she would and went back through the crowd, trying to leave. Dallas cut her off.

"Where you headin' off to. My buddies been askin' about you. I told him you would be here soon."

Robin laughed. "I ain't stayin', Dal. And I ain't chatting up one of your fellow felons."

"He's not a felon. He lifts parts from cars, sure, but he's only ever been caught once. That's a petty crime."

She pushed past him without another word, though she was grinning.

Kathy sat inside the Thunderbird blasting tunes and singing along. She was a bit too off key for Robin's liking. She switched the station to some Marvin Gaye song Kathy wasn't familiar with and enjoyed the quiet.

Kathy's was nothing like Bucks. It wasn't overly tidy, but it was far from rowdy. Robin assumed they were the only ones there, other than Kathy's dad of course - who would be asleep in his upstairs bedroom.

"I'm going to hop in the shower. You can do whatever, you know where everything is."

She decided to make some snacks since they both hadn't eaten since The Dingo that afternoon. A couple sandwiches in, she realized she wasn't alone.

"Hey." said Don, he was smiling.

"Hi, Don."

Don was attractive, the Briggs were a good looking bunch. It was in his genes to be attractive. He blonde hair was greased back to perfection, becoming two shades darker than it should be. His smile was flawless: not a crooked tooth, not even slightly yellowed even though he smoked more than three packs a day. But he was as dumb as a doorknob and had been to the cooler more times than she could count on two hands. He was trouble and he would never settle down, she didn't want that.

"Look, Don, I-"

He didn't let her finish, he cut her off with words of his own. A perk that also annoyed her, he was always cutting her off, never letting her finish.

"Robin, I was thinkin' and why don't we give it another shot? None of these other broads come close to you."

He was closer than he could have been, she could feel his warm breath on her face. It smelt like whiskey and cigarettes, a mixture she used to love, now she wanted far away from her.

"Don, no."

Closer. She could feel his body heat radiating onto herself. He seemed angry by her answer. "What you still too good for me?"

"I don't think I'm better. I just don't want to be messed up in your crap. The gang and you being in and out of jail isn't what I want."

"Alright," he was further away from her now. "I'll take that, for now. But we both know you're gonna change your mind."

He was awful cocky for someone who was dead wrong but she let him be. There was no use angering him or starting a fight over nothing. She just wished he would back off, but you can't always get what you want.

Kathy wasn't too much longer, Robin wanted to talk about the way that Don was acting but she knew Kathy would just brush it off as that's how Don was. Robin didn't want her feelings to just be pushed away like they were nothing, so she said nothing. She just chomped down on her sandwiches and watched the sitcom Kathy had on the television.


End file.
